2012 Country Promotion Strategies Conference – A Success

On Tuesday, November 13, 2012,The Washington Diplomat collaborated with Meridian International Center to host the 2012 Country Promotion Strategies Conference. Held at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington DC, the Conference was a successful first-of-its-kind forum that brought together the international diplomatic corps, members of Congress, and senior executives from multi-national and foreign corporations, along with experts in law, lobbying, public relations and tourism promotion.

The Conference was moderated by Ambassador Stuart W. Holliday, President and CEO of Meridian International Center; and featured insightful speeches by high-level policymakers and industry insiders, as well as dynamic panel discussions on lobbying, media and crisis management. In the highly interactive panel discussions, members of the audience were invited to ask questions and had the opportunity to share their own insights on country promotion strategies.

Speakers at the Conference included - Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Republican Leader of the Foreign Relations Committee, who spoke on “The Evolution of Foreign Policy in Congress and Implications for the Diplomatic Community”; Senator Trent Lott, former Senate Majority Leader, Senate Republican Whip and House Republican Whip; and Thomas Hale Boggs, Jr., Partner, Patton Boggs, who addressed “The New Administration: What to Expect and How to Engage”.

Panelists included Lanny Davis, Former White House Special Counsel and Founder of Purple Nation Solutions; Lauri Fitz-Pegado, Senior Partner at the Livingston Group; Nick Ludlum, Public Relations and Crisis Management Strategist at Ogilvy; and David Rehr, Author and Professor at the George Washington University School of Political Management.”